Manawatu Daily Times Three Party Parliament

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6946, 27 June 1929, Page 6

Manawatu Daily Times Three Party Parliament

The approaching session of Parliament is of particular interest from the fact that the House of Representatives for the first time in its history will find itself led by a party representing little more than a third of its members. Sir Joseph Ward is supported by 2G Uniteds, the Right Hon. J. G. Coates by 2G Reformers and Mr. 11. E. Holland by 19 Labourites, while four Independents have thrown in their lot with the Uniteds for the time being and Sir Charles Statham, the present Speaker, lias abstained from attaching himself to any party. The three party system actually began in the Dominion in 1919, when at the general election of that year Reform with 200,972 votes secured 44 European seats, while Liberals, Labour and Independents with 349,083 votes between them, secured only 22 seats. In 1922, the Reform Party was saved from defeat by the capture of two faint-hearted Liberals and three of the four Maori seats. In 1925 Reform swept the country, securing 52 seats with fewer than one-half the votes polled. Now Sir Joseph Ward is to show what he can do with 30 followers in opposition to 45 potential opponents.

Sir Joseph Ward was confined to his room for a day or two last week, casting off a cold he contracted during his presessional tour of the two islands; but the wheels did not cease to go round during his brief absence from his office and the lobbies, as his staff and heads of departments had reason to observe. He accepts the assurance of his political opponents that he will be given a fair run and he asks and wishes for no more, lie recognises that the session must be an arduous one, and he is prepared for it being a long one; but he hopes that the House will get down to business quickly and avoid any unnecessary delays. Mr. Coates having taken up his residence in Wellington, as the centre of the Dominion’s political world, is not allowing the grass to grow under his feet, and Ilis Majesty’s Opposition probably will be a bigger factor in the new Parliament than it has been in any other since the war.

Should his Excellency the GovernorGeneral again visit this district before bis departure for England, it has been suggested that lie should be taken to see his late father’s farm, live miles from Feilding. It is understood that although .Sir James Fergusson parted with the property many years ago, his son, having assiduously collected from every available source information and mementoes of his distinguished father would be delighted to visit, what was once a prospective home for the family. In order to give New Zealand dairy farmers a chance of visiting Europe, Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son arc making arrangements for a party to leavo some time in May next year. Other parts of the Empire have organised such tours on previous occasions, and it is thought that the Dominion should now come into the picture. The proposed tour will cover six weeks’ travel in Great Britain, covering the following -places:—Cambridge, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Spalding, Peterborough, Nottingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Southern Ireland, Bath, Exeter, Barnstaple, Yeovil, London, Jersey and Guernsey. It will also include a month’s visit to France, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and Denmark.

The popular annual social and dance ir. connection with St. Mary’s Church, Aelihurst, is to take place on Friday evening, June 2S, at 8 p.m. in the Ashhurst Town hall when a pleasant time is assured to all who attend. The charge is the moderate one of Is Od and dancers are promised some good music, to be provided by the Siberian Orchestra, who arc very kindly giving their services for the evening. Any proiits will be devoted to the work of the Ladies’ Guild. “People in Australia arc now beginning to realise that they wont mad over tariff, and to blarne themselves for making the cost of living too high in tliu Commonwealth. Australia, generally, is not in a good way,” said .Sir George Fowlds, who returned by the Marama from a visit to Australia (states tho New Zealand Herald). Sir George expressed the conviction that the close relationship between Australian and New Zealand banks did not favour New Zealand. Ho was certain that huge sums of New Zealand money were invested in Australia, where the rate of interest was higher than it was here, and this had been a factor in causing the recent dull times in the Dominion,